Good, Flight gear bag

S

swanny

Well-known member
I just landed a gig filming for a few days down in Florida (from Maine), and need advice on good gear bags to carryon as much of my af100 kit as possible. I'll be bringing my af100 a few lenses, wireless mics, batteries, cards, tripod, and merlin. I have the [h=2]BK-1NR Backpack (Black with Red Trim)[/h]It fits my camera, batteries and mics, but there is no good protection for any of my lenses, so I'm curious if there are any better solutions out there.

Thanks
 
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For domestic travel you won't find a better rolling case than ThinkTank Photo's "Airport Security".

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-security-v2-roller-camera-bag.aspx

For international travel I use their "Airport International".

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-international-v2-roller-camera-bag.aspx

Lastly there's the "Airport TakeOff". It's also sized for foreign travel, but has slightly less interior space then the "Airport Security" due to it's built-in backpack straps. You wouldn't want to do serious hiking with this case, but the backpack straps are great for short treks.

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-takeoff-roller-camera-bag.aspx

Airlines don't only have size restrictions, but weight restrictions too, so try to ship as much as possible as luggage instead of carry-on. Weight restrictions keep me away from Pelican-style carry-ons as their 50% heavier than soft cases.

Best,
Bern
 
Another bit of advice.

Most flights these days are full, or oversold, & the overhead bins fill quickly, so try to get priority boarding. Not always, but sometimes you can get the airlines to give you priority boarding by telling them your film crew traveling with equipment. Ask them to amend your PNR (Passenger Name Record), which is airline lingo for itinerary, but do this before you arrive at the airport.

SouthWest is a great when there isn't budget for Business, or 1st Class. For a small fee you can upgrade to "Business Select" which allows priority boarding, & at some airports, priority TSA screening. Additionally Southwest does not charge fees to get on earlier, or later, flights, & they allow two pieces of checked luggage for free, plus have reasonable overweight fees.

I'm a huge fan of Virgin, either America, or Atlantic. They have a similar program with their "Premium Economy" class.

I travel a lot, & am amazed how cheap clients have gotten with business travel, so at least insist on priority boarding whenever feasible, & warn them I will not check my cameras, so if need be they may incur a last minute, full-fare, 1st class ticket if I am not able to board with my gear. Or worse...not be able to show up at all.

Best,
Bern
 
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I spent years going across the country traveling with carry-on cameras and lenses. The process is a hassle, especially with the new TSA regulations.

A proper storage receptacle for the gear you rely on for your livelihood makes life much easier- trust me on this one.

Hard cases can be a bit of a hassle, but are hands-down best for safety. There's a lot of players in the soft bag space, and a fair number will work admirably. If you need to carry soft (and many people do), you've got options. I own 7 different soft bags currently, each have strengths that make them more appropriate to one situation or another. However, if I could just choose one bag for my AF100/FS100/F3 it would be my trusty Tamrac.

What I consider the current overall best soft bag IMO, is the Tamrac 2249. It's airline compliant for carry-on and it's what I use most often.

"2249" isn't a sexy name. It's not flashy with bright colored straps or elastic cords, and it doesn't have any inflatable gimmicks.

The 2249 does have massively high quality zippers with large pulls and reinforced internal hard sides. It also has many well organized and spacious accessory pockets, two removable internal pads, and a large outside velcro flap pocket perfect for your boarding pass, magazine, iPod, headphones and (perhaps best of all), iPad or 11" netbook. That exterior flap pocket with the velcro closing runs the length of one side of the bag, and even with iPad/netbook closes completely and securely. You don't for a second worry that the flap will pop open, and you can grab anything you need out of it quickly. There's also a window for business cards. The 2249 has a great shoulder / hand carry strap with heavy duty hardware.

My only real complaint about the 2249 is that there are no rubber feet on the bottom. It is padded, but I would have liked it to have some 1/4" rubber bumps to keep more of it off the ground, as it picks up dirt/hair and dust very easily.

Perhaps the best thing about this bag is the amount of continuous central space. If you have to use your travel bag as a set bag and hop in and out of taxis it's nice to have the easy in and out, even with attached cine lenses. I also like that the bag doesn't scream "I'm something really expensive" to your run of the mill thieves, who tend to recognize some of the more popular broadcast style soft bags distinctive outer material.

2249m.jpg
 
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